Inventory system and methods of using the same

ABSTRACT

The present disclosure is also directed to a system for managing inventory within a dispenser that is configured to maintain a known inventory and is configured to transmit inventory values from the dispenser so that other users can review the inventory values. Also, the dispenser is configured to be accessed by users locally and through an internet connection so that the inventory can be reviewed.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No.16/877,908, filed May 29, 2020, which claims the benefit of and priorityto U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 62/854,012 filed May 29, 2019,the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE DISCLOSURE

The present disclosure relates to dispensing and inventorying of medicalproducts, and more particularly to systems to dispense medical products,re-stock medical products, and track and control an inventory of medicalproducts in various medical locations, such as hospitals, clinics,out-patient surgical centers, or any other location that dispensesvarious medical products for use during medical procedures.

In a typical hospital, many medical products are stored in a storagearea, such as a closet or storage room. As one example, the storage anduse of sutures is discussed. Typically, a hospital stores hundreds ofdifferent types of sutures on racks, in cabinets or in suture storagerooms. In this typical hospital, for any given surgical procedure, asurgeon will often have what is commonly referred to as a surgeon“preference card” that specifies what products (including the types ofsutures) the surgeon expects to use for that procedure, and how many ofeach. These sutures and supplies are obtained by the circulating nurseor other hospital staff and made available and ready to use in thesurgical theater. It is common practice for any such preference card toinclude more sutures of a given type than what is likely to be needed,and additional types of sutures than those likely to be used to accountfor uncertainties during the procedure, and to avoid having to sendsomeone to physically retrieve additional products from the storage areaduring surgery should the need arise.

In current practice, surgeon preference cards are manually kept, andstill often exist in physical card format as opposed to electronically.They are not updated regularly, and not updated each time a surgicalprocedure is performed to more accurately reflect what was actually usedversus what was requested for that surgery. Thus, any errors andinefficiencies in supply are repeated over and over again for a givensurgeon each time he/she performs surgery. Further, the hospital has noway of tracking these errors and inefficiencies at all, let alonerelative to a particular surgeon. Preference card change management isnot solely owned by the surgeon, nursing or materials management.Therefore, it leads to unsuccessful change management and remediation ofsurgeon preference cards. Service providers have built businesses on theremediation of surgeon preference cards, but their services areexpensive and not done on a consistent basis. Procedural standardizationof surgical products is a growing trend in healthcare to control costs.

After a surgery is complete, all non-used sutures are to be properlyrestocked in their respective original storage bins and/or boxes in thestorage closet. In reality, however, non-used sutures are often simplyplaced in a general overflow box in a storage room or thrown away. Thejob of restocking from a general overflow box (or otherwise) is a verytime intensive process. For each individual suture package that must berestocked, the responsible individual must match the identifyinginformation on that package with the identification on the proper box inthe storage room. As indicated previously, these storage rooms maycontain up to hundreds of similarly sized and shaped suture boxes. Thecurrent process is so manually intensive and time consuming, that somelarger hospitals have resorted to hiring full time employees just torestock and manage sutures.

This typical system leads to waste of sutures due to improper disposalor lack of restocking, and a higher incidence of product loss due toproducts passing their expiration dates. This typical system also doesnot track who is actually removing what type of suture or quantity ofsutures from the storage closet, or if any unused sutures are actuallyever restocked.

Further, storage of sutures within a typical hospital leads to waste.Because hospitals typically do not have a system to accurately andtimely keep track of inventory, often either too many sutures arestored-leading to waste due to expiration of those sutures, or too fewsutures are stored-leading to use of alternative sutures which may notbe optimal for the specific procedure.

Also, restocking of inventory is a manual, time-consuming process, whichtypically includes a lag time of several days to account for shippingtimes, actual time for a person to manually restock, etc. Nurses andmaterials management staff usually split the responsibility ofrestocking surgical product. It is estimated that it takes hospitalstaff over 20 hours a week to manage and restock suture products in thehospital. In 2016, the Association of Perioperative Registered Nursesreported that the national average base compensation was $70,300.Therefore, it is estimated that it costs hospital employers over $35,000to have their operating room nurses restock and manage their sutureinventory.

Although the examples discussed above refer to sutures, any medicalproduct can be included in as these typical examples.

Manual and automated dispensing machines are known and utilized fordispensing a wide variety of items ranging from snacks and hot meals tohealth-related items such as certain over-the-counter medications. Thevast majority of these dispensing machines are vending machines that areutilized as point of sale devices. While dispensing and vending machinesare utilized in many areas, they are not widely used in the health caremarket.

In the field of surgery, for example, surgeons and other medicalprofessionals rely on access to rooms of inventory having boxes ofinventory manually stocked by themselves and sales representatives ofthe medical product manufacturers. These rooms require manual inventorycontrol and simply hold the medical product.

There is a need to develop an improved system for stocking the medicalproducts manually. Typically, different stock keeping units, or SKUs,need to be segregated by attributes such as diameter of suture, lengthof suture, color of suture, suture material (non-absorbable andabsorbable), needle type, etc. As one example, one surgical suturemanufacturer, Ethicon, Inc. of Somerville, NJ, has thousands of sutureSKUs for various surgical procedures and other medical needs. This couldtranslate to thousands of different suture boxes on the shelves in alarger hospital supply room. Product identification on each of the boxesis relatively small, and must be read carefully to select theappropriate sutures listed on a surgeon preference card for a givenprocedure and must also be read carefully in order to restock unusedsutures properly. Given the manual nature of the current process, thereare significant efforts in selection and restocking and inventorytracking. As indicated previously, it is estimated that a typical mediumsized hospital may lose tens of thousands of dollars per year duedirectly to inefficiencies in the system.

As such, a need exists for better system for dispensing and restockingof sutures or other medical devices or supplies, and for otherwise moreaccurately and efficiently tracking inventory of such products.

Embodiments of the present disclosure provide devices and methods thataddress the above clinical needs.

SUMMARY OF THE DISCLOSURE

The present disclosure is directed to systems and dispensing systems.

The present disclosure is also directed to a system for managinginventory within a dispenser that is configured to maintain a knowninventory and is configured to transmit inventory values from thedispenser so that other users can review the inventory values. Also, thedispenser is configured to be accessed by users locally and through aninternet connection so that the inventory can be reviewed.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The present disclosure will be better understood by reference to thefollowing drawings, which are provided as illustrative of certainembodiments of the subject application, and not meant to limit the scopeof the present disclosure.

FIG. 1 is an illustration of an embodiment of a dispenser.

FIG. 2 is an illustration of an embodiment of a dispenser.

FIG. 3 is a magnified view of a portion of the dispenser of FIG. 2 .

FIG. 4 is a view of a plurality of stored medical products.

FIG. 5 is a view of a plurality of stored medical products.

FIG. 6 is a view of a plurality of stored medical products within adispenser.

FIG. 7 is a view of a distribution mechanism.

FIG. 8 is a view of an arm of the distribution mechanism.

FIGS. 9A and 9B are views of the arm of the distribution mechanism.

FIG. 10 is a view of the distribution mechanism interacting with aplurality of stored medical products within the dispenser.

FIG. 11 is an illustration of an embodiment of a dispenser.

FIG. 12 is an illustration of an embodiment of a dispenser.

FIG. 13 is an illustration of an interior of the dispenser.

FIG. 14 is an illustration of an interior of the dispenser.

FIG. 15 is an illustration of a transport mechanism of the dispenser.

FIGS. 16A-16C are illustrations of a pick head.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DISCLOSURE

In the discussion and claims herein, the term “about” indicates that thevalue listed may be somewhat altered, as long as the alteration does notresult in nonconformance of the process or device. For example, for someelements the term “about” can refer to a variation of ±0.1%, for otherelements, the term “about” can refer to a variation of ±1% or ±10%, orany point therein.

As used herein, the term “substantially”, or “substantial”, is equallyapplicable when used in a negative connotation to refer to the completeor near complete lack of an action, characteristic, property, state,structure, item, or result. For example, a surface that is“substantially” flat would either completely flat, or so nearly flatthat the effect would be the same as if it were completely flat.

As used herein terms such as “a”, “an” and “the” are not intended torefer to only a singular entity, but include the general class of whicha specific example may be used for illustration.

As used herein, terms defined in the singular are intended to includethose terms defined in the plural and vice versa.

References in the specification to “one embodiment”, “certainembodiments”, some embodiments” or “an embodiment”, indicate that theembodiment(s) described may include a particular feature orcharacteristic, but every embodiment may not necessarily include theparticular feature, structure, or characteristic. Moreover, such phrasesare not necessarily referring to the same embodiment. Further, when aparticular feature, structure, or characteristic is described inconnection with an embodiment, it is submitted that it is within theknowledge of one skilled in the art to affect such feature, structure,or characteristic in connection with other embodiments whether or notexplicitly described. For purposes of the description hereinafter, theterms “upper”, “lower”, “right”, “left”, “vertical”, “horizontal”,“top”, “bottom”, and derivatives thereof shall relate to the invention,as it is oriented in the drawing figures. The terms “overlying”, “atop”,“positioned on” or “positioned atop” means that a first element, ispresent on a second element, wherein intervening elements interfacebetween the first element and the second element. The term “directcontact” or “attached to” means that a first element, and a secondelement, are connected without any intermediary element at the interfaceof the two elements.

Reference herein to any numerical range expressly includes eachnumerical value (including fractional numbers and whole numbers)encompassed by that range. To illustrate, reference herein to a range of“at least 50” or “at least about 50” includes whole numbers of 50, 51,52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, etc., and fractional numbers 50.1,50.2 50.3, 50.4, 50.5, 50.6, 50.7, 50.8, 50.9, etc. In a furtherillustration, reference herein to a range of “less than 50” or “lessthan about 50” includes whole numbers 49, 48, 47, 46, 45, 44, 43, 42,41, 40, etc., and fractional numbers 49.9, 49.8, 49.7, 49.6, 49.5, 49.4,49.3, 49.2, 49.1, 49.0, etc.

All measurements and/or dimensions shown in the following figures arefor exemplary purposes only. In other embodiments, each of thesemeasurements and/or dimensions can be altered in any suitable way.Further, each described component below can be formed of any suitablematerial, such as plastic including materials, metal includingmaterials, carbon including materials, rubber including materials, glassincluding materials, etc. and combinations thereof.

As used herein, the term “medical product” refers to products such assutures, clips, staples, fasteners, implants, hemostats (absorbable),orthopaedic pins, screws, rods, plates, staple reloads, dressings,pacing wires, an endoscope, a clamp, a saw, bone wax, drains,connectors, adapters, tubing, topical skin adhesives, etc. that can bestored in a dispenser. The dispenser is further described below, but canrefer to any device that is configured to store one or more medicalproducts, dispense and/or allow access to that medical product, maintainand/or provide an inventory of stored products, and can accept unusedmedical products back into a storage compartment of the dispenser.

The present disclosure is directed to dispensing systems, and systemsfor controlling the inventory of various medical products. Oneembodiment of one dispenser is shown in FIG. 1 . Dispenser 100 includesseveral shelves 102 that are configured to hold various medical products(not shown in this figure) of various sizes and shapes. To dispense themedical product, the medical product can be moved from one of theshelves by way of a distribution mechanism (discussed below) and contacta conveyer belt 104. Although not shown, the conveyer belt 104 can movevertically within the dispenser 100, depending on which shelf 102 themedical product is on, thus reducing the distance the medical productdrops while being removed from the shelf 102.

The specific medical product to be dispensed can be selected through auser's interaction with a graphical user interface 106, which can listall medical products within the dispenser 100, or can provide anillustration of all medical products within the dispenser 100, so that auser can select the desired medical product. Alternatively, thedispenser 100 can receive a transmitted request to dispense a specificmedical product through an internet connection. This transmitted requestcan come from any other user or device that is configured to transmitrequest through the internet connected dispenser 100.

After the medical product contacts the conveyor belt 104, the conveyerbelt 104 moves the medical product through an opening 108, and onto adispensing shelf 110. A user can then access the medical product byopening the door 112. The doors 112 can be unlocked at all times, or,the doors 112 are first locked but can be accessed by an authorized userwho authenticates their authorization by presenting an access card tothe dispenser to be scanned and/or entering an access code on thegraphical user interface 106. Upon authorization an unlocking mechanismwithin the dispenser 100 could allow for the door 112 to be manuallyaccessed. In other embodiments, the unlocking mechanism within thedispenser 100 could cause the door 112 to be mechanically opened througha suitable mechanism, such as a pneumatic piston.

To add medical products to the dispenser, through a restocking process,a user can place a medical product in restock opening 114. As themedical product enters the restock opening, the dispenser 100 can scanthe medical product through the use of a reader (such as a bar codereader, a QR code reader, a Radio Frequency Identification (RFID)reader, etc.) to read and record the restocked medical product, andstore within the dispenser 100 relevant information regarding themedical product, such as a Stock Keeping Unit (SKU), the expiration ofthe medical product, the number of products within the package ofmedical product, etc. This information can be stored within thedispenser 100 and/or an external database through a communication withthe dispenser 100.

Also, other users may have access to the inventory of the dispenser 100by querying the dispenser 100 itself or accessing the inventoryinformation saved on the external database. Thus, usage of medicalproducts can be tracked by the identification of the accessing user, andcan track inventory of the dispenser 100 by SKU or other suitabletracking method.

Further, at any time, the dispenser 100 can receive inventoryinformation that, for example, a medical product has been recalled or isexpired. The dispenser 100 could then display such data on the graphicaluser interface 106, or an accessing user can be notified of suchinformation. The amount of medical product that is expired and thereforewasted, can be transmitted to the external database to affect futuredecisions of restocking the same or similar medical product to thedispenser 100.

Dispenser 100 has an internal computer (or can receive data from anexternal computer) to store inventory levels over time as medicalproducts are dispensed and restocked.

Another embodiment of a dispenser is shown in FIG. 2 . Dispenser 200operates similarly to dispenser 100, but is structurally different.

Dispenser 200 includes several shelves 202 that are configured to holdvarious medical products (not shown in this figure) of various sizes andshapes. To dispense the medical product, the medical product can bemoved from one of the shelves by way of a distribution mechanism(discussed below) and contact a conveyer belt 204. Although not shown,the conveyer belt 204 can move vertically within the dispenser 200,depending on which shelf 202 the medical product is on, thus reducingthe distance the medical product drops while being removed from theshelf 202.

The specific medical product to be dispensed can be selected through auser's interaction with a graphical user interface 206, which can listall medical products within the dispenser 200, or can provide anillustration of all medical products within the dispenser 200, so that auser can select the desired medical product. Alternatively, thedispenser 200 can receive a transmitted request to dispense a specificmedical product through an internet connection. This transmitted requestcan come from any other user or device that is configured to transmitrequest through the internet connected dispenser 200.

After the medical product contacts the conveyor belt 204, the conveyerbelt 204 moves the medical product through an opening 208, and onto adispensing shelf 210. A user can then access the medical product byopening the door 212. The doors 212 can be unlocked at all times, or,the doors 212 are first locked but can be accessed by an authorized userwho authenticates their authorization by presenting an access card tothe dispenser to be scanned and/or entering an access code on thegraphical user interface 206. Upon authorization an unlocking mechanismwithin the dispenser 200 could allow for the door 212 to be manuallyaccessed. In other embodiments, the unlocking mechanism within thedispenser 200 could cause the door 212 to be mechanically opened througha suitable mechanism, such as a pneumatic piston.

To add medical products to the dispenser, through a restocking process,a user can place a medical product in restock opening 214. As themedical product enters the restock opening, the dispenser 200 can scanthe medical product through the use of a reader (such as a bar codereader, a QR code reader, a Radio Frequency Identification (RFID)reader, etc.) to read and record the restocked medical product, andstore within the dispenser 200 relevant information regarding themedical product, such as a Stock Keeping Unit (SKU), the expiration ofthe medical product, the number of products within the package ofmedical product, etc. This information can be stored within thedispenser 200 and/or an external database through a communication withthe dispenser 200.

A magnified view of a portion of dispenser 200 is shown in FIG. 3 . InFIG. 3 , a medical product 216 has been moved from one of the shelves202, contacted the conveyer belt 204, caused to move by the conveyerbelt 204 through the opening 208 and onto the dispensing shelf 210. Inthis view the door 212 is in an open configuration, allowing a user toreach within the dispenser 200 and remove the medical product 216 fromthe dispensing shelf 210.

A view of an internal space of the dispenser 200 (or for the dispenser100) is shown in FIG. 4 . FIG. 4 illustrates shelves 202 that contain aplurality of medical products 216. As can be seen multiple differentsizes of medical products can be stored on the shelves 202 withinvarious sized trays 218. The trays 218 can be configured to maintain themedical products 216 in any suitable orientation and can maintain 1, 5,10, 15, 20, 30, 40 or more individual medical products 216 within thetray 218. The tray 218 can be resting on shelf 202 in a designatedlocation and/or the tray 218 can be releasably connected to the shelf202 in any suitable way.

A more detailed view of the tray 218 is shown in FIG. 5 (without theshelf 202), with a portion of the tray 218 being translucent forillustrative purposes. In the embodiment of the tray 218 shown in FIG. 5, a plurality of medical products 216 are stored vertically between thewalls of the tray 218 and between an urging component 220 and one ormore securing tabs 222. The securing tabs 222 are to be oriented towardsthe front of the shelf 202, which is closer to conveyor (204 of FIG. 2).

The urging component 220 can provide a force towards the retaining tab222 through gravity and/or by a spring force. In this embodiment of thetray 218, four retaining tabs 222 are shown, which prevent the medicalprevent 216 from falling out of the tray 218, but also allowing removalof the medical product 216 by way of a distribution mechanism, discussedbelow.

A distribution mechanism 224 is illustrated in FIG. 6 , which shows aninterior of a dispenser 200, along with shelves 202, a portion of whichare holding trays 218, which themselves are holding medical products.For illustrative purposes several shelves 202 are shown as not holdingany trays 218, but in other embodiments, all space, or a majority ofspace, on the shelves 202 can hold trays 218 of various sizes.

The distribution mechanism 224, which includes the conveyor belt 204,can move vertically within the dispenser 200, so that the conveyor 204is brought to a relatively close position to the shelf 202 the desiredmedical product 216 is on. In this embodiment, the distributionmechanism 224 is shown as being in a position to retrieve a medicalproduct from the lowest shelf 202. In other embodiments, thedistribution mechanism would rise vertically through any suitablemechanism in the direction of arrow 226, to be in a position to retrievea medical product from any of the other (in this embodiment six) shelves202.

A more detailed view of the distribution mechanism 224 is shown in FIG.7 . The entire distribution mechanism 224 shown in FIG. 7 is configuredto move vertically within the dispenser in the direction of arrow 226.

In FIG. 7 , the conveyer belt 204 can be caused to move in eitherdirection of arrow 228 by a motor and rollers (not shown). The conveyerbelt 204 is sits within a frame 230 that supports a guide rail 232. Theguide rail 232 is configured to support a left arm mechanism 234 and aright arm mechanism 236. In this embodiment two similar arm mechanismsare shown in FIG. 7 , but, in other embodiments a one arm mechanism,three arm mechanisms, or more may be included, with each arm mechanismbeing similar or different from each other included arm mechanism.

One or both of the left arm mechanism 234 and the right arm mechanism236 can move along the guide rail 232, in either direction of arrow 228,through a force provided by a motor 238. A more detailed view of theright arm mechanism 236 is shown in FIG. 7 . Although the first armmechanism 236 is shown in more detail, the left arm mechanism 234includes the same components, just arranged differently.

In FIG. 7 , an arm mechanism frame 240 supports the other elements ofthe right arm mechanism 236. The arm mechanism frame 240 supports an armmotor 242, which has an axle (not shown) that is caused to rotateclockwise or counter-clockwise. The axle of the arm motor 242subsequently causes motor pivot 243 to rotate and arm belt 244 aroundmotor pivot 243 and arm pivot 250. The movement of motor pivot 243 andthe arm belt 244 subsequently causes support arm 246 to rotate in thedirection of arrow 245.

An arm axle 251 extends through the arm pivot and supports suction frame252. Suction frame 252 supports, in this embodiment two suction heads254 that receive a suction pressure through a suction force receivedthrough a gas fitting 256 (connecting hoses not shown). In thisembodiment two suction heads 254 are supported by suction frame 252,however in other embodiments, one suction head, three suction heads, ormore, may be supported by suction frame 252. The suction heads 254 aremade of a comparatively compliant material, which can flex and which caninclude an opening for delivery of a suction pressure to a portion of amedical product (shown in later figures).

Also supported by the arm mechanism frame 240 is a sensor 258, which asdiscussed below, can be used to determine a horizontal location on theshelf. In this embodiment, sensor 258 is a laser sensor, but in otherembodiments, any other suitable sensor, including an optical sensor, canbe included.

Operation of the right arm mechanism 236 is shown in FIGS. 9A and 9B.Both FIGS. 9A and 9B are right hand side views of the distributionmechanism 224.

In FIG. 9A, the right arm mechanism 236 is in a picking position. Themotor 242 (of FIG. 8 ) has rotated clockwise and caused the suctionframe 252 to move in the direction of arrow 245 a, so that a frontsurface of the suction heads 254 contact a medical product 216 (althoughnot shown, the medical product 216 would be stored in a frame, as shownin FIG. 6 ).

A suction pressure is received through the gas fitting 256, and asufficient suction pressure is formed between the suction heads 254 andthe medical product 216 so that the medical product 216 is removed fromthe frame.

In FIG. 9B, the right arm mechanism 236 is in a dropping position (whichwhen no medical product 216 is being picked, also a resting position).The motor 242 (of FIG. 8 ) has rotated counter-clockwise and caused thesuction frame 252 to move in the direction of arrow 245 b until themedical product 216 is in a drop zone 260, illustrated as two imaginarylines in FIG. 9B. During movement from FIG. 9A to 9B, a suction pressureis continually supplied to suction heads 254.

Once the medical product 216 a is in the drop zone 260, as it is in FIG.9B, the suction pressure being supplied to suction heads 254 is stopped,and the medical product 216 a, by gravity, falls vertically down,possibly contacting a flared frame portion 231, and lands on theconveyor belt 204, so that the medical product 216 b is in any suitableorientation on the conveyor belt 204. The medical product 216 b can thenbe moved by the conveyor belt 204 in either direction of arrow 228 ofFIG. 7 and subsequently removed from the dispenser 200. Since thedispenser 200 would effect selection of the specific medical product216, the inventory of the dispenser 200 can be updated to reflect theremoval of the medical product 216 after the user has accessed themedical product 216.

FIG. 10 illustrates the distribution mechanism 224 being in the highestvertical position in the dispenser 200 of FIG. 6 . In this figure, theleft arm mechanism 234 is in the resting position, while the right artmechanism 236 is in the picking position. The right arm mechanism 236has been moved along the guide rail 232 to the appropriate location, sothat the suction heads contact medical product 216 a, as opposed toother medical products. To ensure that the suction heads aresufficiently aligned with the medical product 216 a, the sensor 258emits a signal and counts the number of notches 262 in the shelf 202 asthe right arm mechanism 236 moves in the direction of arrow 228.Alternatively, the sensor 258 can determine the horizontal location onthe shelf in any other suitable way, such as through an optical code, orvarious shaped notches, etc.

Another embodiment of a dispenser is shown in FIG. 11 . Dispenser 300operates in a similar way to the dispensers discussed above. Dispenser300 includes a plurality of medical products 316 on shelves 302, whichcan be accessed through doors 312 and/or through a restock/deliveryopening 314.

In this embodiment of dispenser 300, as well as dispensers 100 and 200,instead of relying on mechanisms within the dispenser itself, a stockinguser could access one of the doors 312, place one or more medicalproducts 316 within the door. The dispenser 300 could first scan thesemedical products being added with a reader and/or the stocking usercould interact with the graphical user interface 306 to update theinventory amount of the medical product just added.

Once another user accesses the dispenser 300, that user could benotified that one or more of their requested medical products is in thestocked door 312, and the dispenser 300 could allow access to that door312. The dispenser 300 could also cause the door 312 to pop openmechanically, and/or have a portion of the door 312 (or a space adjacentto the door 312) light up to indicate which door the user should access.Once the medical products are removed by the user, the dispenser 300could update its own inventory values to indicate the medical producthas been removed.

In this embodiment, the dispenser includes two graphical user interfaces307, so a user can interact with the dispenser 300 in any suitable way.For example, a user can access the graphical user interface 306 by firstscanning an identification card with an ID reader 318. In otherembodiments the user could be identified through a fingerprint scanand/or a retinal scan by the ID reader 318.

The graphical user interface 306 can then allow the user to access whatinventory of medical products are present in the dispenser 300, andrequest their withdrawal and/or access. The graphical user interface 306can also show instructional videos on how to use the selected medicalproduct, or present alternative medical products and show a comparisonbetween the selected medical product and the possible alternativemedical product. Also, the graphical user interface 306 can be used toorder further stock of one or more medical products.

The graphical user interface 306 can also accept a request directly (orthrough receiving a transmitted request) to have specific medicalproducts 316 within a door 312 and/or within restock/delivery opening314 at specified time in the future.

Aesthetically, the dispenser can include an image, which may be a staticimage such as a poster, or a dynamic image presented on a displayscreen. Also, the dispenser can include signage in a signage area 322 tolet users know the source of the dispenser 300 and/or the medicalproducts 316 within the dispenser 300.

Another embodiment of a dispenser is shown in FIG. 12 . Dispenser 400operates similarly to dispenser 300, but is structurally different.

The dispenser 400 in FIG. 12 is illustrated with each of a left movabledoor 402, a right movable door 404, a return door 406, openable doors408 a-408 j, retrieval notification displays 410 a-410 j, a error door412, an error notification display 414, and a display 416. Although FIG.12 represents an external view of the dispenser 400, several componentsare within a cavity formed within dispenser 400, and will be discussedbelow in reference to further figures.

As noted, dispenser 400 includes several openable doors 408 a-408 j,which are configured to open and provide access to a dispensing area,which may be a shelf and/or a bucket that is configured to hold variousmedical products (not shown in this figure) of various sizes and shapes.For the dispenser 400 to dispense the medical product, the medicalproduct can be moved from an internal storage area, down a ramp, andinto a dispensing area, which may include a shelf and/or bucket, detailsof which will be discussed below.

Adjacent each of the openable doors 408 a-408 j is a retrievalnotification display 410 a-410 j. Each of the retrieval notificationdisplays 410 a-410 j can be any suitable display, such as a suitableliquid crystal display (LCD) and a light emitting diode (LED) display.Each of the retrieval notification displays 410 a-410 j can displayvarious information, such as the name of the surgeon to which themedical products are to be dispensed, the type of procedure(s) that areto be performed with the dispensed medical products, a list of themedical products that are to be dispensed into the respective openabledoor 408 a-408 j, the location within the facility the medical productsthat are to be dispensed are scheduled to be used, and/or the time theprocedure(s), for which the medical products are to be dispensed, isscheduled to begin.

Each of the retrieval notification displays 410 a-410 j can include abutton (shown as a circle on each of the retrieval notification displays410 a-410 j), which is configured to receive a response from a user. Theresponse is selected from the group consisting of an input force from auser, an input contact from the user, and/or an input of near physicalcontact within a predetermined proximity. The database then determinesthat the medical products in the dispensing area behind one of theopenable doors 408 a-408 j is no longer stored within the dispenser 400and is to be removed from the available inventory of the dispenser 400.

Each button on each of the retrieval notification displays 410 a-410 jcan include a light source that can be configured to change coloramongst three different colors for example from red, to yellow, togreen, upon receipt of a signal to indicate various messages, such aswhether the total number of medical products of a pick list areaccessible through the corresponding openable doors 408 a-408 j. Inother examples, each button can include a light source that isconfigured change color amongst one (light on or off) two differentcolors, or four or more different colors.

For example, each button can be red (which can indicate that thecorresponding openable doors 408 a-408 j is not in use or can indicatethat not all medical products of the pick list are ready to be dispensedfrom the corresponding openable doors 408 a-408 j), each button can begreen (which can indicate all medical products of the pick list areready to be dispensed from the corresponding openable doors 408 a-408j), or each button can be yellow (which can indicate that an error hasoccurred, or that at least one of the medial products in the dispensingare is different from the medical product of the pick list, or that somebut not all medical products are ready to be dispensed from thecorresponding openable doors 408 a-408 j).

The button can be yellow if at least one of the medial products in thedispensing area is different from the medical product of the pick list.The inclusion of a different medical product from the medical productsof the pick list can occur if a medical product of the pick list is notavailable, but a predetermined and one or more suitable substitutemedical products is present within the dispenser, and has been moved tothe dispensing area. Each dispenser 400 can store internally, or canreceive a signal from a database, a list of suitable substitute medicalproducts for each medical product stored within the dispenser 400 at apoint in time. This point in time can be the original replenishment ofthe dispenser 400, so that a plurality of medical products are stockedwithin the dispenser 400, or this point in time can be a time when anoriginally stocked medical product is replaced with a different medicalproduct.

One of the buttons corresponding to a retrieval notification display 410a-410 j can receive a response from a user. Upon receiving the response,the button allows for access to the medical product(s) that have beenplaced into the dispensing area behind the corresponding openable doors408 a-408 j.

Receipt of the response by the button of the retrieval notificationdisplay 410 a-410 j is also acknowledged and stored within a localelectronic storage device 413 of the dispenser 400 and/or stored withina cloud based service connected to the dispenser 400. Thus, dispenser400 can alter the color of the button of the retrieval notificationdisplay 410 a-410 j, and if further medical products are to bedispensed, begin to move medical product(s) stored within the dispenser400 to the shelf and/or bucket behind the corresponding openable doors408 a-408 j.

Dispenser 400 also includes the error door 412 covering a single errorarea, and the error notification display 414. Although in FIG. 12 theerror door 412 and the error notification display 414 are illustrated asbeing vertically below all of the openable doors 408 a-408 j and theretrieval notification display 410 a-410 j, in other embodiments, theerror door 412 and the error notification display 414 can be in anylocation on the dispenser 400. The single error area is configured tohold at least one medical product.

Medical products from within the dispenser 400 can be moved to the errorarea behind the error door 412 for one of several reasons. For example,medical product(s) can be placed in the error area since they are, upona scanning feature described below, acknowledged by the dispenser 400 asbeing expired (or within a threshold amount of time before expiration).As another example, upon return of medical product(s) that havepreviously been dispensed from dispenser 400, those returned medicalproduct(s) may be damaged, or may be incapable of being scanned with areader (as discussed below). As another example, upon return of medicalproduct(s) that have previously been dispensed from dispenser 400, thosereturned medical product(s) may be identified as not being the same asany other medical products within the dispenser 400. As another example,the dispenser 400 can receive data indicating that a certain type ofmedical product(s) have been recalled, upon receipt of such data, thedispenser 400 can then cause those medical product(s) to be moved fromstorage within the dispenser 400 into the error area behind the errordoor 412.

In each example above of a medical product being moved to the errorarea, a first communication interface 419 of the dispenser 400 can beconfigured to transmit to a cloud based service and/or database outsidethe dispenser 400, a signal that an error is determined and/or themedical product is in the error area. Any communication interface of thepresent disclosure may be a wireless communication interface. In otheraspects of the disclosure, a communication interface may be a wiredcommunication interface.

Error notification display 414 can be any suitable display and candisplay various information, such as: the amount and/or type of medicalproducts in the error area behind the error door 412; a notificationthat a threshold number of medical product(s) have been received in theerror area behind the error door 412 so that a user can empty themedical product(s) received in the error area behind the error door 412;and a notification that medical product(s) are presently being movedinto the error are behind the error door 412 (so that the user can waituntil all medical product(s) have been moved to the error area behindthe error door 412 before removing them).

Error door 412 may be opened by any user, or error notification display414 can receive a passcode (or include a physical key slot) so thaterror door 412 can be opened by an authorized user.

Dispenser 400 also includes the left movable door 402, which as shown inFIG. 12 is in a closed position, but can pivot towards the openabledoors 408 a-408 j to an open position to allow a user to sufficientlyaccess the interior of the dispenser 400. Dispenser 400 also includesthe right movable door 404, which as shown in FIG. 12 is in a closedposition, but can pivot towards the return door 406 to an open positionto allow a user to sufficiently access the interior of the dispenser400. Although in this embodiment the left movable door 402 and the rightmovable door 404 are shown as relatively large, vertical doors, in otherembodiments, only one door, or three or more doors can be included, inany size and orientation, to allow for sufficient access to the interiorof the dispenser 400 to allow for restocking, etc., by a user.

Also as seen in FIG. 12 , the display 416 can be a graphical userinterface (GUI), and is included on a front surface of the left movabledoor 402, but, in other embodiments, the display 416 can be in any othersuitable location on the dispenser 400.

The display 416 can be configured to receive an input contact from auser, wherein the contact is used to receive a code (such as an accesscode so that a user can open one or more doors of the dispenser 400),receive a selection for a video recording (so that a user can record avideo message, such as a description of an error of a dispensed medicalproduct), display received video (which can be received from a cloudbased service and/or an external database), and receive signals from theelectronic storage device 413 within the dispenser 400. The display 416can also display data selected from the group consisting of a number ofeach of the plurality of medical products within the dispenser, alocation of each of the plurality of holders, and which medical productof the plurality of medical products is stored in each of the pluralityof holders.

The input from the user received by the display 416 can be a specificmedical product(s) to be dispensed from dispenser 400 can be selectedthrough a user's interaction with the display 416, which can list aninventory of all medical products within the dispenser 400, or canprovide an illustration of all medical products within the dispenser400, so that a user can select the desired medical product.Alternatively, the dispenser 400 can receive a transmitted request todispense a specific medical product through an internet connection. Thistransmitted request can come from any other user or device that isconfigured to transmit request through the internet connected dispenser400.

The display 416 allows a user to interact with the dispenser 400 in anysuitable way. For example, a user can access the display 416 by firstscanning an identification card with an ID reader 318 and/or entering apasscode.

In this embodiment the dispenser 400 also includes a speaker that isconfigured to provide an audio signal (such a warning signal), and/orprovide an audio transmission of a recorded video message shown on thedisplay 416.

The display 416 may also present alternative medical product(s) to thoseselected, and show a comparison between the selected medical product andthe possible alternative medical product. Also, the display 416 can beused to order further stock of one or more medical products.

The display 416 can also accept a request directly (or through receivinga transmitted request) to have specific medical product(s) on a shelfand/or bin being the openable doors 408 a-408 j known by the dispenserto be vacant.

Dispenser 400 also includes the return door 406 that covers a restockingarea. Although in this embodiment the return door 406 is shown as arelatively large, vertical door, in other embodiments, two or more doorscan be included, in any size and orientation, to allow for users tosufficiently place unused medical product(s) within the restocking areabehind the return door 406, so that the unused medical product(s) can beadded to the stored inventory within the dispenser 400 as discussedbelow.

FIG. 13 is a view of dispenser 400, with left movable door 402 and rightmovable door 404 removed, so that a portion of the interior of dispenser400 is visible. In this view, a holder 418 is shown, with the interiorof the dispenser 400 containing a plurality of holders, each of whichare configured to store one or more medical products in fixed locationswithin the dispenser 400. Each of the plurality of holders 418 isconfigured to maintain one or more medical products in a fixed location,so that a plurality of medical products can be stacked on top of eachother within each of the plurality of holders 418. Each of the pluralityof holders 418 can be the same size, so that the stored medical productis the same size for each holder 418, or the plurality of holders 418can be varied sizes so that medical products of different sizes can bestored therein.

Each of the holders 418 can completely surround the circumference ofeach of the medical products, or one or more holders 418 can include aslot 420, so that a portion of a medical product stored within theholder 418 can be visible and/or accessible.

FIG. 14 is a perspective view of the interior space of the dispenser400, with the enclosure surrounding the interior space not beingpresent, including return door 406 being removed. In this view a holder418 a of a first size is shown with a first size slot 420 a, and aholder 418 b of a second, larger size, is shown with a second size slot420 b. In this embodiment two different sizes of holders 418 are shown,but in other embodiments, all holders 418 can be the same size, or theholders 418 can be three or more different sizes.

In each holder 418, a plurality of medical products 422 are stored inthe plurality of holders 418, all within the interior space of thedispenser 400. In this view a medical product 422 a of a first sizesubstantially fits within holder 418 a, while a medical product 422 b ofa second size substantially fits within holder 418 b. As seen in FIG. 14, each holder 418 includes a plurality of medical products 422, whichare stacked on top of each other vertically with the holder 418. Thenumber of medical products 422 stored with each holder 418 can vary,from a single medical product to tens, or hundreds of medical productsstacked vertically on top of each other. Also, each individual holder418 may contain the same kind of medical product as one or more of theother individual holders 418 within the dispenser 400, or eachindividual holder 418 stores a unique medical product that no otherholder stores.

In this embodiment, there are three rows of holders 418, arranged inrows from a front 424 of the dispenser 400 to a rear 426 of thedispenser 400, in the direction of arrow 428. However, in otherembodiments, one, two, four or more rows of holders may be within thedispenser 400.

In this embodiment a restocking area 440 is also configured to move inthe direction of arrow 428, so substantially align with any of the rowsof holders 418. This restocking area 440 is further discussed below.

Corresponding to each row of holders 418 is a transport mechanism 430.In this embodiment, there are three transport mechanisms 430, however,in other embodiments, a single transport mechanism 430, two transportmechanisms 430, four transport mechanisms 430 or more may be included inthe dispenser 400. The transport mechanism 430 is configured to move amedical product 422 from the holder 418 to the dispensing area 409(shown as dispensing areas 409 a-409 j in FIG. 14 ) behind thecorresponding openable doors 408. The transport mechanism 430 will bedescribed and shown in more detail below, but each transport mechanismincludes a first reader configured to scan an identifier on the medicalproduct 422. Because the medical products 422 are stacked vertically ontop of each other, the first reader of the transport mechanism 430 isconfigured to read the identifier on the medical product 422 verticallyhighest within the holder 418, and as discussed below, upon reading theidentifier, move the vertically highest medical product 422 within theholder 418 to a dispensing area 409.

Each medical product 422 stored within the dispenser 400 include anidentifier, such as a bar code, a QR code, and/or a Radio FrequencyIdentification (RFID). The dispenser includes one or more readers thatare configured to read and record medical product 422, and store withinthe dispenser 400 relevant information regarding the medical product,such as a Stock Keeping Unit (SKU), the expiration of the medicalproduct, the number of products within the package of medical product,etc. This information can be stored within the electronic storage device413 of the dispenser and/or an external database through a communicationwith the dispenser 400. Along with the electronic storage device 413,the dispenser also includes a processor 415, a second communicationinterface 417 and the first communication interface 419. The secondcommunication interface 417 and first communication interface 419 areconfigured to receive and transmit information to a database (and/or acloud based service) in any suitable way, such as through one or more ofa wired internet connection, a wireless internet connection, a cellularconnection, a Bluetooth connection, a Near Field Communicationconnection, etc. Also, in some embodiments, the first communicationinterface 419 and the second communication interface 417 are a singledevice that is configured to receive and transmit, in other embodiments,“first” and “second” communication interfaces can be interchanged.

As used herein, the term “processor” may refer to, is part of, orincludes circuitry capable of sequentially and automatically carryingout a sequence of arithmetic or logical operations; recording, storing,and/or transferring digital data. The term “processor” may refer to oneor more application processors, one or more baseband processors, aphysical central processing unit (CPU), a single or multiple-coreprocessor, and/or any other device capable of executing or otherwiseoperating computer-executable instructions, such as program code,software modules, and/or functional processes.

As used herein, the term “electronic storage device” includes any typeof integrated circuit or other storage device adapted for storingdigital data including, without limitation, ROM, PROM, EEPROM, DRAM,SDRAM, DDR/2 SDRAM, EDO/FPMS, RLDRAM, SRAM, “flash” memory (e.g.,NAND/NOR), 3D memory, and PSRAM.

Each of the plurality of holders 418 are configured to support each ofthe plurality of medical products 422 in fixed locations, such that theelectronic storage device 413 (and/or an external database through acommunication with the dispenser 400) is also configured to store alocation of each of the plurality of holders 418 within the dispenser400 and associate each location of each of the plurality of holders 418with one of the plurality of medical products 422.

During movement of the medical products 422, the first reader on thetransport mechanism 430 is configured to read the identifier of themedical product 422 upon removal of the medical product 422 from theholder 418 and transmit to the electronic storage device 413 to subtractthe removed medical product 422 from the available inventory of themedical product 422.

More medical products 422 are added the dispenser 400 in one of twoways.

A first way more medical products 422 are added to the dispenser 400 isthrough a replenishment method. Under this method a user carries one ormore new medical products to the dispenser 400. The user then moves thenew medical product, or a container storing one or more new medicalproducts, to a position that a second reader can read the identifier ofthe new medical product or container storing one or more new medicalproducts. This second reader can be on any portion of the dispenser 400that is accessible by a user, which is also configured to scan theidentifier of the new medical product. Alternatively, or in conjunction,the user can interact with the display 416 and manually enter the numberand type of new medical product to be added to the dispenser 400.

The second reader can then transmit to the electronic storage device 413of the dispenser 400 a quantity of the newly added medical product sothat the electronic storage device 413 can update the availableinventory value of that newly added medical product (by adding theamount of the newly added medical product to the previously storedmedical product 422 of the same type).

Upon reading the identifier of the new medical product and transmittingthe quantity of the newly added medical product to the electronicstorage device 413, the user can move at least one of the left movabledoor 402 and the right movable door 404 from a closed position to anopen position, so the user can access the interior space of thedispenser 400.

The user can then either review the display 416 (which can illustrate aplanogram of the plurality of holders and indicate in some way which ofthe one or more holders 418 correspond to the newly added medicalproduct) or visually check which of the one or more holders 418 iscurrently storing the same kind of medical product, and add the newmedical product to the holder 418.

For new medical products that have not been previously stored within thedispenser 400, the display 416 may illustrate the planogram, andindicate an empty holder 418 and/or indicate a holder 418 having storedmedical product that is to be removed first prior to addition of the newmedical product.

A second way more medical products 422 are added to the dispenser 400 isthrough a restock method. Under this method, a user opens return door(406 of FIG. 12 ) to access restocking area 440. In other embodimentsthe restocking area 440 can be accesses in any other suitable way, suchas through an opening in a side of the dispenser 400. The user then addsrestocked medical product to the restocking area 440, such that theidentifier of each restocked medical product is vertically upwards.

The restocked medical products can be medical products 422 that werepreviously dispensed for a procedure, but were not used, and are nowreturned and are to be added back to available inventory. The restockedmedical products can also be new medical products that are to be addedto the dispenser 400 for the first time.

As noted above, the restocking area 440 is configured to move betweenthe front of the dispenser 424 and the back of the dispenser 426, and isconfigured to substantially align itself with a row of the plurality ofholders 418. The restocking area 440 moves through a driving forcedelivered from any suitable source, such as an electric motor, etc.

Once a restocked medical product is within the restocking area 440, thefirst reader of the transport mechanism 430 is configured to read theidentifier of the restocked medical product in the restocking area 440.This restocked medical product is not shown and therefore not numbered,and is referred to as “restocked medical” product when in the restockingarea, and becomes medical product 422 upon restock, as discussed below.

The first reader of the transport mechanism 430 can be triggered to readthe identifier of the restocked medical product under a number ofcircumstances. For example, the transport mechanism 430 can receive anotification from the display 416 or from the database (and/or a cloudbased service) that there is medical product(s) to be restockedpresently in the restocking area 440; the transport mechanism 430 canreceive a periodic notification from the database (and/or a cloud basedservice) to move to the restocking area 440 at predetermined intervalsto check if there is any restocked medical product(s) to be read; thetransport mechanism 430 can, after fulfilling a pick list, then move tothe restocking area 440 to check if there is any restocked medicalproduct(s) to be read; the restocking area 440 may include a sensor (notshown) that detects when one or more medical products have been placedin the restocking area 440, and upon sensing, the processor 415 cannotify the transport mechanism 430 there are restocked medicalproduct(s) in the restocking area 440; and/or the return door 406 mayinclude a sensor (not shown) that detects when the return door 406 isopened and closed, and upon sensing, the processor 415 can notify thetransport mechanism 430 there are restocked medical product(s) in therestocking area 440.

Upon reading the identifier of the restocked medical product, thedispenser 400 (or the electronic storage device 413 of the dispenser400, and/or an external database through a communication with thedispenser 400) identifies the type of restocked medical product anddetermines if it is the same kind of medical product as any of thecurrently stored medical products 422. If the restocked medical productis the same as one of the stored medical products 422 in the row of thetransport mechanism 430, the transport mechanism 430 is configured tomove the restocked medical product from the restocking area 440 to oneselected holder of the plurality of holders 418 so that the restockedmedical product rests vertically on top of the stack of medical productswithin the holder 418.

The transport mechanism 430 is shown in more detail in FIG. 15 , whichis a magnified view of a portion of the interior of dispenser 400. Thetransport mechanism 430 includes a pick head 431. This pick head 431includes the first reader, which is configured to scan an identifier onthe restocked medical product, on a lower surface of the pick head 431(shown in a later figure), which faces the restocked medical product inthe restocking area 440.

The pick head 431 is moved vertically, closer to or further from therestocking area, in the direction of arrow 434. This movement iseffected through a driving force delivered from any suitable source,such as an electric motor, etc., that causes the pick head 431 to morevertically along vertical transport rails 433. Once pick head 431 issufficiently close to the restocking area 440 and restocked medicalproduct the first reader reads the identifier of the vertically highestrestocked medical product in the restocking area 440. After reading, thepick head 431 moves further vertically downwards towards the restockedmedical product, applies a negative pressure (or suction force) througha suction head (shown in FIGS. 16A-16C) that extends from the lowersurface of the pick head 431, until the suction head contacts or nearlycontacts the restocked medical product, causing the restocked medicalproduct to be secured to the suction head of the pick head 431. Thesuction head can be any suitable shape and structure, and can be formedof any suitable pliable, compliant, rigid or semi-rigid material andwhich can include an opening for delivery of a suction pressure to aportion of a medical product. A vacuum or any other suitable mechanismcan provide the negative pressure to the pick head 431.

Upon securing the restocked medical product to the suction head of thepick head 431, the pick head 431 moves vertically upwards on verticaltransport rails 433, so that it is vertically higher than the uppersurface of the holders 418. The pick head 431 (and secured, restockedmedical product) moves horizontally in the direction of arrow 432, alonghorizontal transport rail 435 until the restocked medical product isvertically above the selected holder 418.

Once vertically above the selected holder 418, the pick head 431 (andsecured, restocked medical product) moves vertically down along verticaltransport rails 433 until the restocked medical product contacts ornearly contacts the upper surface of the vertically highest medicalproduct 422 in the selected holder 418. The negative pressure is thenceased, and the restocked medical product becomes unsecured from thepick head 431, and rests on the upper surface of the vertically highestmedical product 422 within the holder 418, the restocked medical productitself becoming the vertically highest medical product 422 within theselected holder 418.

The method steps discussed above are repeated for each restocked medicalproduct in the restocking area 440.

If the restocked medical product is the same kind of medical product asone of the currently stored medical products 422, but that same kind ofmedical product is in a different row, the restocking area 440 will moveand align itself with the correct row, so that the correct row'stransport mechanism 430 can move the restocked medical product to theselected holder of the holders 418.

At any point between reading the identifier of the restocked medicalproduct and movement of the restocked medical product to the selectedholder, the dispenser 400 (or the electronic storage device 413 of thedispenser 400, and/or an external database through a communication withthe dispenser 400) receives the read identifier and adds the restockedmedical product to the available inventory of the medical product 422within the dispenser 400.

The selected holder of holders 418 the restocked medical product is tobe added to is determined by the dispenser (or the electronic storagedevice 413 of the dispenser 400, and/or an external database through acommunication with the dispenser 400) by matching the identifiedrestocked medical product to one of the plurality of stored medicalproducts stored in the electronic storage device 413 (and/or an externaldatabase through a communication with the dispenser 400), and thenassigning the selected holder (of holders 418) to the associatedlocation of the matched one of the plurality of stored medical productsof the electronic storage device 413.

After the restocked medical product is moved from the restocking area440 to a holder 418, the first reader can again read the identifier of asubsequent restocked medical product in the restocking area 440 and gothrough the above movement of the restocked medical product, until norestocked medical products are within restocking area 440.

Medical products can also be moved to the single error area 411 of FIG.14 upon return to the restocking area 440 if the medical product(s) werenot included in a previous pick list. In this example, upon scanning therestocked medical product, the processor 415 of the dispenser 400 canreview internally stored pick lists, or the first communicationinterface 419 of the dispenser 400 can transmit the type of restockedmedical product to an external database that maintains a record of picklists. The restocked medical product can then be compared to one or moreprevious pick lists to determine if the dispenser 400 had previouslydispensed that restocked medical product. If the dispenser 400 did notpreviously dispense that restocked medical product (based on thecomparison between the restocked medical product and the one or moreprevious pick lists indicating no matching medical product on the one ormore previous pick lists), that restocked medical product can be movedto the single error area 411. If the dispenser 400 did previous dispensethat restocked medical product (based on the comparison between therestocked medical product and the one or more previous pick listsindicating a matching medical product on the one or more previous picklists) the restocked medical product is moved to the selected holder ofholders 418.

As another example, medical products can also be moved to the singleerror area 411 upon return to the restocking area 440 if the medicalproduct(s) are not indicated as being scheduled for restocking. In thisexample, after a pick list is completed, and the medical product(s) areremoved from the dispenser 400, the medical product(s) are then broughtto the location of surgical procedure. Upon completion of the surgicalprocedure, a user on a computing device, can indicate if one or more ofthe dispensed medical products were not used. The computing device canthen transmit that information to the dispenser 400 (and/or an externaldatabase through a communication with the dispenser 400) as a restocknotice.

Upon scanning the restocked medical product, the processor 415 of thedispenser 400 can review internally stored restock notices, or the firstcommunication interface 419 of the dispenser 400 can transmit the typeof restocked medical product to an external database that maintains arecord of restock notices. The restocked medical product can then becompared to one or more previous restock notices to determine if therestocked medical product is present on any restock notice. If therestocked medical product is not present on a restock notice, thatrestocked medical product can be moved to the single error area 411. Ifthe restocked medical product is present on a restock notice therestocked medical product is moved to the selected holder of holders418.

If the restocked medical product is determined as not being the samekind of medical product as one of the currently stored medical products422, the transport mechanism 430 is configured to move the restockedmedical product that is not the same to the single error area 411. Allmovement of restocked medical products is effected with the transportmechanism 430, as discussed below.

The second communication interface 417 of the dispenser 400 isconfigured to receive various signals and data, including an availableinventory request, a pick list and a recall request.

If the second communication interface 417 of the dispenser 400 receivesan available inventory request, the processor 415 can access theelectronic storage device 413 (and/or an external database through acommunication with the dispenser 400) and determine the availableinventory, which is an updated total of all restocked medical productsin addition to all replenished medical products, minus all dispensedmedical products and minus all medical products moved to the singleerror area 411. Once the available inventory is determined, the firstcommunication interface 419 of the dispenser 400 is configured totransmit the available inventory, in response to the available inventoryrequest, to a database. This database can be at another location withinthe same building the dispenser 400 is in, or in a separate location.Further, the second communication interface 417 and first communicationinterface 419 are configured to receive and transmit information to thedatabase in any suitable way, such as through one or more of a wiredinternet connection, a wireless internet connection, a cellularconnection, a Bluetooth connection, a Near Field Communicationconnection, etc.

The second communication interface 417 of the dispenser 400 can alsoreceive a pick list. The pick list is a list of one or more medicalproducts of the plurality of medical products 422 that are to be movedfrom the holders 418 to a respective dispensing area 409. Thus, uponreceipt of the pick list, the dispenser 400 determines the location ofeach holder 418 that the one or more medical products on the fulfillmentlist is associated with, and the number of medical products on thefulfillment list at each holder 418 location.

The transport mechanism 430 then moves to the location of each of theassociated holders 418 and successively secures each of the verticallyhighest medical product 422, moving each of the secured medical products422 to a dispensing area 409.

The transport mechanism 430 secures each medical product 422 by movingvertically downwards on vertical transport rails 433 from the positionshown in FIG. 14 , once the pick head 431 is in the correct horizontalposition above the located holder 418. The pick head 431 movesvertically downwards until the suction head of the pick head 431contacts or nearly contacts the upper surface of the vertically highestmedical product 422 in the selected holder 418. A negative pressure isthen applied through the suction head of the pick head 431, causing thevertically highest medical product 422 to be secured to the suction headof the pick head 431.

The pick head 431 (and the secured medical product 422) is movedvertically upwards and horizontally towards the dispensing areas 409a-409 j. Each of the dispensing areas 409 a-409 j includes an opening,and a ramp that extends towards the pick head 431, so that upon verticalalignment with the correct dispensing area 409, the secured medicalproduct can be unsecured, contact the ramp, and slide into the correctdispensing area 409. To unsecure the medical product a negative pressureis ceased, and the medical product 422 becomes unsecured from thesuction head of the pick head 431. The correct ramp is selected througha communication received by the dispenser 400, through secondcommunication interface 417, that one of the plurality of dispensingareas 409 a-409 j are empty and able to receive a new medical product(s)of a pick list.

The above description can pertain to when the dispenser 400 includes onetransport mechanism 430 (and thus one pick head 431), however, aplurality of transport mechanisms 430 may be included in dispenser 400(for example three are shown in the present figures). When there are aplurality of transport mechanisms 430, upon receipt of the pick list,the dispenser 400 determines the location of each holder 418 that theone or more medical products on the fulfillment list is associated with,determines which transport mechanism 430 of the plurality of transportmechanisms each holder 418 is aligned with, and the number of medicalproducts on the fulfillment list at each holder 418 location. Then, oneor more of the transport mechanisms 430 that are in alignment with teachholder 418 location move to the location of each of the associatedholders 418 and successively secures each of the vertically highestmedical product 422, moving each of the secured medical products 422 toa dispensing area 409.

The dispensing area 409 the medical products of the pick list are movedto is a dispensing area 409 that does not include other medicalproducts. For example, the dispensing area 409 the medical products ofthe pick list are moved to is a dispensing area 409 that has previouslybeen emptied by a user after a previous pick list has been fulfilled.

The second communication interface 417 of the dispenser 400 can alsoreceive a recall request. The recall request is a list of one or moremedical products of the plurality of medical products 422 (or restockedmedical products) have been recalled. To avoid the possibility that themedical products 422 will be dispensed as part of a pick list, thedispenser 400 determines the location of each holder 418 that the one ormore medical products on the recall list is associated with, and thenumber of medical products on the fulfillment list at each holder 418location.

The transport mechanism 430 then moves to the location of each of theassociated holders 418 and successively secures each of the verticallyhighest medical product 422, moving each of the secured medical products422 to the single error area 411.

The transport mechanism 430 secures each medical product 422 by movingvertically downwards on vertical transport rails 433 from the positionshown in FIG. 14 , once the pick head 431 is in the correct horizontalposition above the located holder 418. The pick head 431 movesvertically downwards until the suction head of the pick head 431contacts or nearly contacts the upper surface of the vertically highestmedical product 422 in the selected holder 418. A negative pressure isthen applied through the suction head of the pick head 431, causing thevertically highest medical product 422 to be secured to the suction headof the pick head 431.

The pick head 431 (and the secured medical product 422) is movedvertically upwards and horizontally towards the error area 411. Theerror area 411 includes an opening, and a ramp that extends towards thepick head 431, so that upon vertical alignment with the error area 411,the secured medical product can be unsecured, contact the ramp, andslide into the error area 411. To unsecure the medical product anegative pressure is ceased, and the medical product 422 becomesunsecured from the suction head of the pick head 431.

The pick head 431 can continue to successively move all medical products422 from their respective holders 418, each time securing the verticallyhighest medical product 422 within the holder 418, until all medicalproducts 422 that are on the recall list have been moved to the errorarea 411. If a medical product 422, which is on the recall list, is notaccessible by the pick head 431, for example if a medical product 422that is not on the recall list is vertically above the medical product422 that is on the recall list, the dispenser 400 can provide an errormessage on the display 416 and/or send an error signal to a database.The dispenser 400 can also, if the medical product 422 that is not onthe recall list is present vertically above the medical product 422 thatis on the recall list, upon the medical product 422 that is not on therecall list being moved, the dispenser 400 can then cause the pick head431 to move the medical product 422 that is on the recall list to thesingle error area 411.

A detailed view of the pick head 431 is shown in FIGS. 16A-16C. In FIG.16A, a perspective view of the pick head 431 is shown, removed from thedispenser 400.

The pick head 431 includes a suitable connector 450, which is capable ofconnecting the pick head 431 to the horizontal transport rail 435.Suction head 452 extends from a lower surface of the pick head 431, andis better shown in later figures. The pick head 431 also includes aphysical stop element 454 a that extends from an upper surface 456. Thephysical stop element 454 a is a physical element that, upon contactwith another object, is configured to signal the pick head 431 to notmove further in the vertical direction by causing a driving motor of thepick head 431 to stop.

FIG. 16B is a side view of pick head 431. From this view a gas fitting458 can be seen. The suction head 452 receives a negative pressurethrough a suction force received through the gas fitting 458 (connectinghoses not shown).

A physical stop element 454 b also extends from a lower surface 460 ofthe pick head 431. During operation of the pick head 431, the physicalstop element 454 b is a predetermined distance from the medical productin the holder upon the medical product being secured to the suction head452. The physical stop element 454 b is a physical element that, uponcontact with another object (such as a medical product), is configuredto signal the pick head 431 to not move further in the verticaldirection by causing a driving motor of the pick head 431 to stop.

FIG. 16C is a view of the lower surface 460 of the pick head 431. Inaddition to the suction head 4522 and physical stop element 454 b, thelower surface 460 can include a first reader 462 a and/or a first reader462 b. In other embodiments only one first reader, or three or morefirst readers can be included on the lower surface 460. The first reader462 a/462 b can be any reader capable of reading the identifier of amedical product such as a bar code reader, a QR code reader, a RadioFrequency Identification (RFID) reader, etc.

Also seen in a sensor 464. This sensor 464 can be any sensor, includingbut not limited to an infrared sensor (passive or otherwise), a lightlevel sensor, a photodiode, a motion detector, a temperature sensor, ahumidity sensor, an optical sensor, and a CCD/CMOS camera.

The sensor 464 can be used in conjunction with physical stop element 454b, or instead of physical stop element 454 b as the stop mechanism. Thesensor 464 can be configured to determine the location (throughcommunication with the processor 415, or an additional processor) of thepick head 431 in relation to an object (such as a medical product), sothat once the pick head 431 reaches a predetermine position in relationto the object, the sensor 464 is configured to signal the pick head 431to not move further in the vertical direction by causing a driving motorof the pick head 431 to stop.

The stop mechanism of either or both of physical stop element 454 b andsensor 464 are included so that the picking head moves to a verticallocation suitable for successively picking up medical products from theholders.

The recall list can also be referred to by the dispenser upon receipt ofa restocked medical product. If the restocked medical product is part ofthe recall list, the transport mechanism 430 can move the restockedmedical product directly from the restocking area 440 to the error area411.

The second communication interface 417 can also receive a status requestfrom a cloud based service, at various times, or at specific intervals.Upon receipt of this status request, the first communication interface419 can transmit back to the cloud based service that the dispenser 400is operating with a suitable power source (through a connection with awall socket and/or a battery) and that the dispenser is connected to theinternet (through a wired and/or wireless connection).

Each of the above dispensers is configured with sufficient hardwareprocessors to communicate with an internal storage, a local databaseand/or a cloud based service. The cloud based service is any serviceconfigured to interact, receive, store, and transmit data among manydevices in differing locations.

At any time inventory in any of the dispensers discussed above can betransmitted to the database, so that other entities that have access todatabase can track usage of medical products by the identification ofthe accessing user, and can track inventory of the dispenser. Thedatabase can also transmit, at any time, inventory information to thedispenser that, for example, a medical product has been recalled or isexpired. The dispenser could then display such data on the userinterface, or an accessing user can be notified of such information.

Although not discussed above, each of the above dispenser can include asterilizer to provide sterilization to the interior of each dispenser,and/or to provide sterilization to each medical product being stockedinto the dispenser. Different levels of sterilization may be selectedthrough an interaction with the graphical user interface, with a higherlevel being selectable for medical products that were unused in asurgical room and are now being restocked into the dispenser.

Although not discussed above, each of the above dispensers can include atemperature monitor and/or a humidity monitor. The dispenser can beconfigured to record temperatures and humidities within the dispenser atvarious times, and transmit such recordings to a database.

The phrase “communication interface” includes electronic circuitry,configured for one or more specific standards, that enables one deviceto telecommunicate (transmit and/or receive) with another device.

The described embodiments and examples of the present disclosure areintended to be illustrative rather than restrictive, and are notintended to represent every embodiment or example of the presentdisclosure. While the fundamental novel features of the disclosure asapplied to various specific embodiments thereof have been shown,described and pointed out, it will also be understood that variousomissions, substitutions and changes in the form and details of thedevices illustrated and in their operation, may be made by those skilledin the art without departing from the spirit of the disclosure. Forexample, it is expressly intended that all combinations of thoseelements and/or method steps which perform substantially the samefunction in substantially the same way to achieve the same results arewithin the scope of the disclosure. Moreover, it should be recognizedthat structures and/or elements and/or method steps shown and/ordescribed in connection with any disclosed form or embodiment of thedisclosure may be incorporated in any other disclosed or described orsuggested form or embodiment as a general matter of design choice.Further, various modifications and variations can be made withoutdeparting from the spirit or scope of the disclosure as set forth in thefollowing claims both literally and in equivalents recognized in law.

What is claimed is:
 1. A dispenser, the dispenser comprising: a movabledoor, movable between an open position, and a closed position, when themovable door is in the open position, the dispenser is configured toreceive a medical product into an interior space of the dispenser,wherein the medical product comprises an identifier; a holder in theinterior space, the holder configured to store the medical product in afixed location; a dispensing area configured to hold a medical product,wherein the dispenser further comprises an openable door extending overthe dispensing area; a transport mechanism configured to move themedical product from the holder to the dispensing area, wherein asurface of the transport mechanism comprises a first reader configuredto scan the identifier; a processor; and an electronic storage device,wherein the electronic storage device is configured to store a locationof the holder within the dispenser, at least one of the first reader anda second reader, the second reader configured to read the identifier,being configured to read the identifier of the medical product uponinsertion of the medical product into the dispenser, or configured toread the identifier of a container storing one or more medical products,and store a quantity of the medical product in the electronic storagedevice as an available inventory of medical product, and wherein thefirst reader is configured to read the identifier of the medical productupon removal of the medical product from the holder and transmit to theelectronic storage device to subtract the removed medical product fromthe available inventory of the medical product.
 2. The dispenser ofclaim 1, wherein the dispenser comprises a plurality of medical productsstored in a plurality of holders in the interior space, wherein each ofthe plurality of holders is configured to support each of the pluralityof medical products in fixed locations, respectively, and wherein theelectronic storage device is configured to store a location of each ofthe plurality of holders within the dispenser and associate eachlocation of each of the plurality of holders with one of the pluralityof medical products.
 3. The dispenser of claim 1, further comprising anerror area, wherein the error area is configured to hold at least onemedical product, wherein the dispenser further comprises an error doorextending over the error area.
 4. The dispenser of claim 1, furthercomprising a restocking area.
 5. The dispenser of claim 4, wherein therestocking area is configured to move between a front of the dispenserand a back of the dispenser from a front of the dispenser to a back ofthe dispenser, and is configured to substantially align itself with arow of the plurality of holders.
 6. The dispenser of claim 4, whereinthe first reader is configured to read the identifier of a restockedmedical product in the restocking area.
 7. The dispenser of claim 6,wherein the dispenser is configured to identify the restocked medicalproduct, and if the restocked medical product is the same as one of theplurality of stored medical products, the transport mechanism isconfigured to move the restocked medical product to the location of theone selected holder of the plurality of holders, and the dispenser isconfigured to add the restocked medical product to the availableinventory of the medical product.
 8. The dispenser of claim 7, whereinthe location of the one selected holder is selected by matching theidentified restocked medical product to one of the plurality of storedmedical products stored in the electronic storage device, assigning theselected holder to the associated location of the matched one of theplurality of stored medical products.
 9. The dispenser of claim 6,wherein the dispenser is configured to identify the restocked medicalproduct, and if the restocked inventory is not the same as one of theplurality of stored medical products, the transport mechanism isconfigured move the restocked medical product to the error area.
 10. Thedispenser of claim 1, further comprising a display configured to receivean input contact from a user, wherein the contact is used to receive acode, receive a selection for a video recording, display received video,receive signals from the electronic storage device, display dataselected from the group consisting of a number of each of the pluralityof medical products within the dispenser, a location of each of theplurality of holders, and which medical product of the plurality ofmedical products is stored in each of the plurality of holders.
 11. Thedispenser of claim 1, further comprising a plurality of dispensingareas.
 12. The dispenser of claim 11, wherein for each of the pluralityof dispensing areas the dispenser comprises a respective screen, whereineach of the respective screens is configured to receive signals from theelectronic storage device and is configured to display dispensing areaidentifying information.
 13. The dispenser of claim 11, wherein for eachof the plurality of dispensing areas, the dispenser comprises arespective button configured to receive a response, wherein the responseis selected from the group consisting of an input force from a user, aninput contact from the user, and/or an input of near physical contactwithin a predetermined proximity, wherein the dispenser is configured totransmit to a database that the response was received by the button. 14.The dispenser of claim 13, wherein each of the buttons comprises a lightsource configured to illuminate in at least three different colors uponreceipt of a signal, wherein one of the at least three different colorsindicates that a pick list is complete, one of the at least threedifferent colors indicates that a pick list is incomplete, and one ofthe at least three different colors indicating a pick list is completebut that at least one of the medical products in the dispensing area isdifferent from the medical product of the pick list.
 15. The dispenserof claim 1, further comprising a first communication interface, thefirst communication interface configured to receive at least one of anavailable inventory request, a pick list and a recall request.
 16. Thedispenser of claim 15, further comprising a second communicationinterface, wherein the second communication interface is configured totransmit the available inventory, in response to the available inventoryrequest, to a database.
 17. The dispenser of claim 15, wherein the picklist is a list of one or more medical products of the plurality ofmedical products, wherein upon receipt of the pick list the dispenserdetermines the location of each holder of the one or more medicalproducts of the list is associated with and the number of medicalproducts on the list at each location, and then causes the transportmechanism to move to the location of each holder, successively secureeach medical product of the pick list, and move each of the securedmedical products to the dispensing area.
 18. The dispenser of claim 17,wherein the transport mechanism secures each medical product bycontacting each medical product, and applies a negative pressuresufficient to maintain contact to each medical product.
 19. Thedispenser of claim 15, wherein the recall request is a list of one ormore medical products of the plurality of medical products, wherein uponreceipt of the recall request the dispenser determines the location ofeach holder the one or more medical products of the list is associatedwith and the number of medical products on the list at each location,and then causes the transport mechanism to move to the location of eachholder, successively secure each medical product of the recall list thatis accessible, and move the secured medical product to the error area.20. The dispenser of claim 19, wherein the transport mechanism secureseach medical product by contacting each medical product, and applies anegative pressure sufficient to maintain contact to each medicalproduct.
 21. The dispenser of claim 6, further comprising a secondcommunication interface, wherein the second communication interface isfurther configured to transmit, to a database, that an error isdetermined based on the identifier, wherein the error is selected fromthe group consisting of an identifier is unreadable, an identifier thatindicates that the restocked medical product is recalled, an identifierthat indicates that the restocked medical product does not correspond toany other medical product in the dispenser, and an identifier thatindicates that the restocked medical product is expired.
 22. Thedispenser of claim 21, wherein if the error is determined, the transportmechanism moves the restocked medical product to the error area.
 23. Thedispenser of claim 1, wherein the transport mechanism comprises a stopmechanism, wherein the stop mechanism is at least one of a physicalelement that contacts an object and causes a driving motor of thetransport mechanism to stop and a sensor that determines the location ofthe transport mechanism and causes the driving motor of the transportmechanism to stop once the transport mechanism reaches a predeterminedposition, wherein the physical element and the predetermined positionare a predetermined distance from the medical product in the holder. 24.The dispenser of claim 15, further comprising a plurality of transportmechanisms.
 25. The dispenser of claim 24, wherein the pick list is alist of one or more medical products of the plurality of medicalproducts, wherein upon receipt of the pick list the dispenser determinesthe location of each holder of the one or more medical products of thelist is associated with, which transport mechanism of the plurality oftransport mechanisms is aligned with each holder and the number ofmedical products on the list at each location, and then causes one ormore of the plurality of transport mechanisms to move to the location ofeach holder, successively secure each medical product of the pick list,and move each of the secured medical products to the dispensing area.26. The dispenser of claim 1, wherein the transport mechanism isconfigured to apply a suction pressure to the medical product to movethe medical product from the holder to the dispensing area.